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General Tire
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina, United States Founded: 1915 Founder: William F. O'Neil Parent Company: Continental AG (1987 - Present) More About The Manufacturer: William O'Neil had a Firestone franchise in Kansas City. He started a small manufacturing facility for tire repair products and called it Western Tire and Rubber. As Firestone grew, it sold additional franchises, reducing the territories of its earlier franchisees. Dissatisfied, O'Neil decided to compete with Firestone instead, using the expertise he had gained with Western. He went into partnership with his father, a department store owner in Akron, and formed The General Tire & Rubber Company in 1915 using $200,000 in capital borrowed from the store. The O'Neils hired away some Firestone managers. Initially, they focused on repair materials, as with Western Tire & Rubber, but in 1916 they expanded into tire manufacturing, focusing on high-end products. Despite the difficult business climate of World War I, in 1917, O'Neil established a dealership network and began an advertising campaign. By 1930, the company had 14 retail stores and about 1.8% of the tire market. During the depression, as competitors failed, General Tire & Rubber Company bought out Yale Tire and Rubber, and India Tire and Rubber. By 1933, it had increased market share to 2.7%. This was a relatively large number, considering that the company limited its product line. Because the Depression was particularly hard on manufacturing, General Tire & Rubber Company bought several Ohio radio stations on which it advertised. In 1943, it diversified the core business strategy, purchasing the Yankee Network and the radio stations it owned from Boston's Shepard Stores, Inc. Thomas F. O'Neil, son of the founder William F. O'Neil, served as Yankee's chairman with Shepard's John Shepard III serving as president. The company continued its move into broadcasting by acquiring the Don Lee Broadcasting System, a well-respected regional radio network on the West Coast, in 1950. Among other stations, it added KHJ-AM-FM in Los Angeles and KFRC-AM-FM in San Francisco to its stable from the Yankee acquisition. In 1952, it bought WOR/WOR-FM/WOR-TV in New York City and merged its broadcasting interests into a new division, General Teleradio (purchased from R. H. Macy & Company alongside WOR & Bamberger Broadcasting; named as a result of The General Tire & Rubber Company's increased investment in WOR). The company's final move into entertainment was the acquisition of RKO Radio Pictures from Howard Hughes in 1955 for $25 million. General Tire & Rubber Company was interested mainly in using the RKO film library to program its television stations, so it sold the RKO lot at Sunset and Gower in Hollywood to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's Desilu Productions in 1956 for $6 million. The remaining assets of RKO were merged with General Teleradio, and the new company became known initially as RKO Teleradio Pictures, then RKO Teleradio, before eventually becoming RKO General. The radio stations became some of the leading broadcasters in the world, but the division was dragged down by unethical conduct at its television stations. This culminated in the longest licensing dispute in television history, eventually forcing RKO General out of the broadcasting business by 1991. The company later diversified into a conglomerate and by 1987, General Tire was sold to Germany's Continental AG, becoming Continental Tire North America, before its re-incorporation again to its current name of General Tire & Rubber Company. Today, General Tire in iRacing is only subject to the Lucas Oil Off-Road Trucks which include the 2 Lite, the 2 Truck, and the 4 Truck. Category:North American Tire Manufacturers Category:American Tire Manufacturers Category:Tire Manufacturers